


The Ride

by days_of_storm



Series: The Words Not Spoken [12]
Category: My Engineer (TV)
Genre: Adorable boyfriends being adorable, Domestic, Endearments, Established Relationship, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff and Smut, King is still surprised, M/M, Public Display of Affection, RST, Ram talks a lot, Semi-Public Sex, Sex in a Car, UST, a smidge of angst, blowjob, horny guys being horny, horrible sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:35:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29767332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/days_of_storm/pseuds/days_of_storm
Summary: Maz wanted me to write the ultimate fuck you to chapter 30 of Space - and consensual car sex.I ... kinda ... got there, eventually. It's just that once those boys start being cute they won't stop, so it took me about 10k words to even get to that car sex scene. However, nothing in this story resembled any plot points of the novel. In any case, I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into their relationship.This is set after "Elf" and "TH-27 and TH-28" but before "The Birthday Party." Ram is still in his first year.Ram's POV.
Relationships: King/Ram (My Engineer)
Series: The Words Not Spoken [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863481
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	The Ride

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mazarin221b](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mazarin221b/gifts).



> Maz wanted me to write the ultimate fuck you to chapter 30 of Space - and consensual car sex. 
> 
> I ... kinda ... got there, eventually. It's just that once those boys start being cute they won't stop, so it took me about 10k words to even get to that car sex scene. However, nothing in this story resembled any plot points of the novel. In any case, I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into their relationship.
> 
> This is set after "Elf" and "TH-27 and TH-28" but before "The Birthday Party." Ram is still in his first year. 
> 
> Ram's POV.

“P’King?”

“Hmm?”

“I won’t be home for dinner tonight.”

King looked up from his coffee. “No?”

“I have to … meet my dad.”

“Oh. Do you need me to come with you?”

Ram put down his chop sticks and thought about the offer. “I don’t know.”

King nodded. “Let me know, yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“You done?”

“Hmm.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

They took the bus to campus, King’s hand resting on Ram’s knee, out of sight for anyone unless they stopped and looked. Ram always felt silly for being self-conscious about it, but he had learned to love the thrill when people walked past their seats without noticing. On good days, he put his hand on top of King’s, and on really good days, he put his own hand on King’s knee. 

That morning, he didn’t feel risky, so he kept his hands to himself and King kept looking at him, clearly anxious to know what Ram was thinking. 

His father had texted him very early in the morning, telling him that he needed to be home for dinner as he had to talk to him. 

Before they parted ways, King fixed his tie in a sweet attempt to make it seem like that was the only thing he was worried about. 

“I’ll be fine,” Ram tried to reassure him.

“So, you don’t want me to come.”

Ram nodded. “I think … he would have said if he’d be okay with you being there.”

“I could wait outside.”

“P’King.”

“Promise to call me if you need me.”

Ram smiled at King’s shoes for a moment before meeting his eyes again. “I might need you during lunch hour.”

“Where?” King asked, sounding so eager Ram had to chuckle. 

“The usual place.”

“Oh,” King deflated a little. “Not the library, then?”

Ram grinned, reaching out to tug at King’s uniform. “No, not the library. I’d like to get my homework done during lunch break, because I don’t know how long I’ll be tonight.”

“Fine. I’ll be there.”

“Thank you.”

Ram turned to go, but was held back by two hands on his waist. His breath caught in his throat and he stopped moving immediately. And then he felt King’s lips against the nape of his neck, just for a second, before they were gone again, and so was the pressure against his waist. 

He stood there for a moment, his heart beating wildly, hoping against hope that no one had seen them. And then he decided to not care; or at least to try. 

Nevertheless, his fingertips tingled when he sat down and he fought the urge to touch the spot on his neck where King’s lips had burned an invisible mark against his skin. He tried to focus, amazed that his anxiety about meeting his father had been almost entirely replaced by the urge to feel King’s hands against his body as soon as possible. And he knew he couldn’t possibly ask King to make out with him during lunch hour, not after he had already told him no. 

The longer time dragged on, though, the less convinced he was of his own reluctance. But they couldn’t meet at the library. It would be too crowded at that time and they wouldn’t have any privacy at all. And while their make-out session in the restroom had been incredibly exciting that one time, he didn’t feel like repeating the experience. The risk was too high. 

He almost didn’t notice when his class was over, because he was staring wistfully out of the window. He wished he knew of a broom cupboard or maintenance room that they could sneak off to. In the end, they couldn’t be the only two people in love who needed some privacy on campus, could they? Where did people go to make out in secret?

He stuffed his books into his backpack and left the room, still trying to convince himself that, after his next class, he would simply sit down with King and work on his homework. He was so lost in thought that he just barely managed to stop before colliding with King, who had apparently waited outside of his classroom and had now stepped into his path. 

“Ai’Ning, pay attention to where you are walking,” he teased him and then he threw his arm around his shoulders and steered him away. 

Ram was so busy trying to catch up with what was happening that he barely registered when King led him down several flights of stairs. 

“What are you …” he started once they had reached the bottom of the staircase, but he couldn’t finish the sentence, because King whirled him around, pressed him against the nearest wall and kissed him like a starving man. 

And all he could do was kiss him back. In the back of his mind, he knew that this was probably as safe as it could get, but then again, he had never been in the basement of the building and he had no idea who might be passing by. But since it seemed very quiet and the noise of hundreds of students changing classrooms only filtered down the staircase without any of the sounds coming any nearer, he assumed it would be okay. 

Once he had found comfort in the thought, he began to kiss King back properly, pushing away from the wall and switching positions with him, loving the grunt that followed when he pushed King against the wall. 

When the alarm on King’s phone went off, Ram stopped automatically. The sound was too connected with disruption for him to ignore it. 

“Gotta go back to class,” King explained, kissing Ram one more time before he slipped out of his embrace and ran up the stairs. 

Ram pulled out his phone, wanting to tell King to come back, but he knew it would be in vain. He also knew that King undoubtedly waited for his text, so he slipped his phone back into his pocket, wiped his mouth and made his way upstairs again, barely managing to make it into the room on time for his next class. 

He was proud that he did not check his phone once during class, but he needed to pay attention and he knew a large chunk of homework would come from his Production Planning and Control class. While he struggled less with it than with his maths and science classes, he knew that if he missed important bits, he would have to put in several extra hours of work to catch up on something his professor explained much faster. 

Once he left class, he checked immediately whether King was waiting for him. When he couldn’t see him anywhere, he made his way to their usual table. He hadn’t brought food for the dog today, and he hoped it wouldn’t show up and scare King. 

Since King had made an effort to not panic when he was with his dogs, Ram had realised just how scared King really was, even though he couldn’t understand it. But the fact that it had taken him weeks to be comfortable to be in the same room as them told him a lot about how hard it was for King to trust that they wouldn’t bite him. And while he was certain that the janitor’s dog wouldn’t bite him either, he could understand how its barking made King panic. He felt a little guilty about using his fear of dogs initially, but in the end, he couldn’t regret the day he had managed to talk King into taking him home on his own bike. 

He sat down with a sigh, remembering so vividly how King had made him hold on to his hips then. He hadn’t asked him, but he couldn’t deny that he was curious to know whether it had meant anything to him then. 

“Hey Ning,” King climbed onto the bench next to him, leaning into him for a moment before putting down his books on the table. “Lay it on me.”

Ram rolled his eyes but he couldn’t help but smile, knowing that King was watching him closely. Sometimes he wished that he could just turn towards him and close the gap, but he knew he couldn’t possibly do that without consequences. 

Instead, he opened his own book to the pages his professor had indicated, pushing it a little towards King so that he could read along. He realised that he didn’t really need King’s help to work through the questions, so he finally turned and looked up at him, realising that King had been watching him quietly. 

He swallowed hard, feeling heat rise to his face. He raised an eyebrow in question, and King simply sighed. 

“I’m worried,” he admitted when Ram didn’t look away again. 

“About what?”

“You,” King leaned his elbow on the table and rested his face in his hand, still looking at Ram, but moving out of the immediate danger zone. Ram was both relieved and disappointed. 

“Don’t be.”

“Did he tell you why he wanted to see you?”

Ram shook his head. He didn’t have the faintest idea why his dad had asked him to come over. 

“What if …,” King stopped himself, squeezing his eyes closed and shaking his head. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t want to worry you.”

Ram deflated a little. What did King expect? “Tell me,” he demanded. 

“No, I’m sorry, Ram. I’m stupid and I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“P’King!”

“I’ll go get some food. You do your reading. You don’t need me for that, right?”

Ram sighed and then shrugged. 

King got up hastily and squeezed his shoulder. “I’ll be back soon.”

Ram exhaled slowly, wondering why King was so worried when he did not see any point in that. When he turned back to his reading, a thought suddenly wriggled its way into his consciousness that left him feeling a little nauseous. He immediately knew that this was exactly what King was worried about. 

What if his parents wanted to tell him that they would get a divorce after all? 

He couldn’t even say why the thought upset him so much. It would probably be better for his mum in the long run, but in the end the sinking feeling in his stomach that he had carried around with him for so long after he had learned of his father’s affair was back. He inhaled slowly and deeply before he blew out his breath again. His fingers shook a little when he pulled his phone out of his pocket. 

_“Are you and mum getting a divorce?”_

He stared at the words for a long time before he pressed send. Then he put his phone down and stubbornly pulled the book closer again, but he wasn’t able to concentrate, and he grew more nervous with every moment that he did not receive an answer. 

When his phone pinged, he almost threw it off the table as he picked it up with shaking hands. 

_“Of course not, Ram. No, we need to talk about your car.”_

He wanted to cry with relief as he put the phone down again and then picked it up immediately. He dialled King’s number and forced himself to breathe evenly.

King picked up immediately. “Ram, is everything okay?”

Ram nodded, biting back tears for a moment before he managed to get his vocal cords to work. “Yeah, everything is fine. Did you find food?”

“I’ll be out in a minute. What do you want to drink?”

“A bottle of Scotch, please,” Ram said instinctively and King laughed out loud. 

“Ai’Ning, what happened?”

“Never mind. Water is fine.”

“Okay. See you in a sec.”

Ram closed the book, knowing he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on his homework now. He would just try to do it before seeing his parents. 

When King put down the food in front of him, Ram leaned back and King stayed pressed against him for a moment, even patting his chest a little before he withdrew and sat down next to him. 

“Thank you,” he opened the bag and pulled out the food containers. 

“What happened?”

“Oh, the whisky?” Ram produced two bottles of water from the bottom of the bag and handed one to King. 

“I asked. He said no. All is well.”

“Wait, I didn’t …”

“It’s fine,” Ram interrupted him.

“I’m sorry for worrying you unnecessarily.”

Ram huffed. “For a second there, you were like me.”

“Well,” King pulled a face and then smiled, opening the food containers and handing Ram chopsticks. “I’m glad that I was wrong.”

Ram nodded. “Hmm. Me, too.”

King squeezed his wrist before he started to eat, and very slowly, Ram felt his inner peace return. King chatted happily about the food, every fourth or fifth bite being something he stole from Ram’s box, and it was all Ram needed to feel okay again. 

“So, do you … want to go back downstairs?” King asked when they had finished eating. 

“I have to finish my homework.”

“Did you even start?”

“Fair point.”

“Let’s meet in the afternoon?”

“Library?”

King’s eyes flashed and Ram shook his head. “Mind. Gutter.”

“So?”

“What?”

“Come with me?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Ram sighed. King was goading him into an argument just so he would keep answering him and while he was entirely aware of it, he couldn’t really help but fall for it.

“Because it’s still in public.”

“Oh,” King leaned back a little and Ram knew he had taken this as a challenge. For a couple of minutes, King looked around, his eyes flicking left and right, up and down, scanning the surroundings and the buildings. Then he pushed himself up and picked up the empty boxes. “Follow me.”

“P’King.”

“Trust me!”

Ram sighed and pushed his books back into his backpack. Maybe being the boyfriend of the smartest student in the faculty came with a few extra perks. He had no idea what King was up to, but he seemed confident to have found a solution to their problem. 

When King led the way into the main building, Ram began to doubt that King really had a plan. Masses of students crowded the hallways, and they passed the cafeteria, ignoring Boss who shouted at them to come and join them at their table. And then King pushed open the door to another stair case, but instead of going down, he went up.

After climbing five storeys worth of stairs, the steady flow of students had ebbed and King leaned against the wall to catch his breath. When Ram smirked at him, he tried to slap his arm but missed. Unimpressed, Ram began to climb the last set of stairs. 

“Ai’Ning, wait for me.” King followed him, still somewhat out of breath, until they found themselves in front of a door that looked decidedly different from the ones on the storeys below. 

King pressed down the handle and then pushed with his shoulder and the door gave way, opening up to the flat roof of the main building. 

Ram stared at King for a moment before he followed King’s silent invitation to step outside. The roof was almost empty, with the exception of a maintenance hut that looked like they shouldn’t go anywhere near it and a few large water cannisters that served as reserves in case of a fire. King made sure that the door could still be opened from the outside before he closed it and leaned against it, looking smug. 

“How did you know?”

“I got a tour when I received the scholarship.”

Ram stepped closer to him. “You … received a scholarship?” Then he shook his head, smiling. “Of course, you did,” he sighed. “Why am I even surprised.”

King smiled lopsidedly at him. “Does that make me less cool?”

Ram almost laughed out loud. “P’King, who said that you were cool?”

King pressed both of his hands against his heart and pretended to be deeply hurt. It tipped Ram over the edge and he had to giggle. 

“You have other, much better qualities,” he stepped closer and pulled his hands away from his chest and put them on his hips. 

King cocked his head in interest. “Such as?”

Ram licked his lips and closed the final distance between them. “You are very, very good at …” he kissed him, softly, before pulling away again, fascinated by how King immediately followed him, “maths,” he finished and King stopped, his eyes wide, before he laughed and then pulled him close, kissing him with all he had. 

Once they had overcome their initial urge to be as close to each other as possible and Ram had just about managed to keep King from sucking a hickey to his neck, they sat down, King with his back to the door and Ram in his arms, and he realised that this was what he had truly craved. Kissing King was amazing, and the urge overcame him constantly, but his need to be alone with him and to just _be_ outweighed that urge by far. 

“This,” he finally admitted, rubbing his face against King’s upper arm. “You’re really good at this.”

King huffed and pressed a kiss to the back of his head. “You, too.”

When King’s alarm went off again, Ram had to laugh. King hugged him tightly once more before he helped Ram to get up only to be pulled up by him a second later. “Thank you for this,” Ram said with his hand on the door handle.

“If we got a table up here, we could do our work here as well.”

“What if we get caught?”

King shrugged. “I don’t see why it should be a problem.”

“Health and safety?”

King grinned and then stepped out of the way so Ram could open the door. They kissed one last time before descending the stairs again, with King walking ahead. Ram waited for a bit until nobody else was coming up the stairs and then quickly slipped out through the door, walked along the architecture classrooms and took the next staircase down which led to his own class room. 

Ram felt much calmer, having eaten and cuddled with King and being certain that seeing his parents wouldn’t upset him or his mum. When his final class was over, he got two large iced coffees and went outside again. King was already at their table, gratefully accepting the coffee. 

While Ram read, King was fiddling on his phone and watching him read in turns. When King started snapping photos of him, Ram gave him a judgemental look, but when he was met with King’s happy expression, he couldn’t help but smile. 

“Stop being cute,” he complained and turned back to his reading. 

When it was time for Ram to leave, King took him to the bus stop, standing a little too close and being a little more affectionate than usual and Ram wondered if he was still worried. When his bus arrived, he was almost certain King would get on with him, but then he took a step back. 

“Call me if you need me.”

“Of course.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.” Ram nodded and then got on the bus, finding a seat and only looking out of the window again when he had sat down. King had followed him along the bus and raised his hand once the bus drove off. Ram tried not to smile, but he couldn’t quite keep his face straight, and, as usual, King’s smile became a few shades brighter in reaction. 

God, if he knew what that did to Ram. 

He leaned forward, hiding his face from the world against his arms which rested on the back of the empty seat in front of him, smiling at his knees. It was one of the things he was certain he would never, ever get used to. King smiled a lot when he was with him, he had already noticed that. He had assumed that King was just generally very happy, but watching him with his friends, he seemed to take on a different role with them, listening calmly, occasionally trying to diffuse some tension, and being a little more laid back. In hindsight, King had always been like this – at least for as long as he had known him. The grown-up of the group. The responsible one. 

And yet, he smiled constantly when he was with Ram. The many times King’s face had lit up when Ram had finally spoken to him. The way he still seemed to be caught off guard by it when they hadn’t spent the day together, as if King always expected him to revert back to his usual silence. The way King smiled at him when he woke up in the morning, his eyes puffy with sleep and his hair a mess. The way he always smiled when Ram put down breakfast in front of him, or coffee, or just sat down opposite him. But his favourite smile was the one King smiled when Ram smiled at him. It made his entire face and Ram’s heart light up. 

He inhaled deeply and then sat up, feeling a little silly for being so soppy on the bus. 

When he walked up to his house, he was hit with a strange feeling. He had grown up in that house and yet he felt like he had outgrown it. Moving into the dorm had been an important step for him to figure out how to be on his own and he had been very happy to have a place where he could close the door behind himself and leave the world outside. But he had come back home constantly, and, in the end, the dorm felt a little like an extension of his room here in the house. 

But moving in with King had been different. It hadn’t been a generic room that he tried to decorate to fit his notion of a comfortable space. It was lived in and full of life. It was astonishing how contented he felt there, even if his initial reaction to seeing the jungle inside hadn’t been quite as positive. Yet, the fact that King had made his flat entirely his and then still found room for him in it felt more like a homecoming than looking at his parents’ house now. 

He exhaled slowly and walked up to the front door, opening it without ringing the bell. His mum almost walked into him as he quietly entered the kitchen. 

“Oh, Ram, you’re here!” She hugged him quickly and then pushed him away a little, looking at him as if to check whether he was alright. “Hungry?”

“Yes,” he smiled. “Let me help?”

“Oh, it’s done. Ruj helped me.”

“Okay, then I’ll say hi to the dogs.”

“Alright, don’t be too long!”

Ram quickly walked to the back of the house where he could already hear the excited whining of his dogs. Once he opened the door, they immediately crowded around him and it took him some time to calm them down. He finally sat and let them lick his hands and sniff his face, hugging each of them in turn. When he felt that they had realised that he was okay, he got up again. Maybe he could cuddle with them a little after dinner. 

Ram went to wash his hands and face and then joined his mother in the dining room. 

“Just sit down. What do you want to drink?”

“Just water is fine.”

“I’ll make tea,” she smiled and ruffled his hair. Ram resisted the urge to run his hand through it to fix it again and when Ruj showed up and hugged him just as he had sat down, he was glad he hadn’t, because as soon as he had pulled back, he did the same. 

“How’s the boyfriend,” Ruj grinned and sat down, sneaking a bite to eat when their mom wasn’t looking.

“He’s well, thank you,” Ram said, trying to sound grown up. Ruj’s grin told him he hadn’t fallen for it. 

“Why didn’t you bring him?”

“You just want more video games.”

Ruj shrugged. “It’s nice that he always brings something.”

“Yeah, so maybe next time, _you_ give him something?” Ram teased him and Ruj put both of his elbows on the table, giving him a stern look. “I’m allowing him to date my brother. That should be enough.”

Ram couldn’t help but laugh at that, shaking his head in astonishment. “I’m sure he’s very intimidated by you.”

Ruj cocked his head as if he hadn’t heard the sarcasm in Ram’s voice and Ram had to grin. 

“You know that once you have someone, I’m going to be the same, right?”

“Well, I certainly hope so!”

“Where’s dad?” he then asked quietly. 

“Oh, he said he’s getting your car from the garage. I think he took it for the annual inspection.”

“Yeah, he said something about the car,” Ram shrugged. He wondered if his parents were in some sort of financial trouble and wanted to sell the car. He hadn’t really driven it a lot since getting his license. Ruj was too young to learn, and they probably wouldn’t let him drive the Mercedes-AMG for the first couple of years. Ram still wasn’t sure why they had given him the car for his 18th birthday, but he suspected that it had both been a financial investment as well as a hint for him to stop drinking, because his friends wanted to him to drive when they went out, for obvious reasons. But he hadn’t driven the car in a while now and really hadn’t seen any need for it – not with his bike and the direct bus connection. 

If his parents had decided that they would sell it, he did not really see a problem with that. 

Just then, his father walked into the kitchen and washed his hands in the sink. Ram’s mum picked up two bowls of food and walked past him, waiting until he had pressed a kiss to her cheek. Ram looked away, weirdly touched by the gesture and yet disgusted that things seemed to be so normal when they simply weren’t anymore. 

He sighed and met Ruj’s eyes, who seemed equally irritated. 

“Ram, welcome home,” his father greeted him, putting down rice on the table. Ram simply nodded at him.

It was so much easier to be around his parents when King was with him. King just talked. It didn’t matter about which topic, he could always strike up a conversation about anything and keep it going for a while, too. Ram started to regret that he hadn’t asked him to come after all. 

“Ram, honey,” his mum put down the rest of the food and sat next to him, squeezing his arm. “We wanted to talk to you about your car.”

“Okay,” he said, trying not to sound like he didn’t really care. 

“But eat something first,” she smiled and then proceeded to fill his plate. 

The hesitation confused Ram even further, but he figured that he would know eventually, so he ate what he was given and answered his parents’ questions about his studies and King and their plans for the summer break. Ram realised that they hadn’t even considered the summer holidays, but he hoped that they would go north and visit King’s grandma. 

Finally, he couldn’t pretend that they were just making small talk any longer. “So, what about my car.”

“Well,” his father started. “You haven’t been driving it much since you started university.”

Ram nodded. 

“So, we have considered …” his father continued. 

“I’m getting a new car,” Ram’s mum interrupted him. “We need space in the garage.”

“Why don’t you use mine?” Ram asked, wondering if she wanted his blessing. 

His mum put down her fork and turned towards him, not without exchanging a telling glance with his dad. “Well, you see. We thought, since you live with King now and you are no longer at your dorm and your way to school is longer, that you should take the car with you. You might need one, every now and then?”

“Oh.” 

“It’s your car, and it’s a good car. It’ll keep you safe, you and King. Dad had it checked over, so you can take it home with you tonight if you want to.”

“But you could use it,” he suggested again, although a thought formed in the back of his mind that suddenly highlighted a lot of positives in his parents’ suggestions. 

His mother smiled at him as if she couldn’t quite believe he wasn’t immediately agreeing to her suggestion. “Listen, Ram. I’m going to get a car that I want to drive. I have driven yours and it’s a little … too much for what I want.”

“Are you going to get a MINI Cooper?” Ruj asked, suddenly excited. Ram remembered that his brother had quite a collection of matchbox cars, many of them being MINIs. When his mum winked at Ruj, Ram realised that she wasn’t really getting herself a car. She was getting a car that she would eventually pass on to his brother once he was old enough to drive. 

When Ruj threw up his hands in a victory pose, Ram felt an incredibly strong surge of affection for his mother. 

“Of course, I’ll take the car home,” he nodded and she smiled and squeezed his wrist. 

“Good.” 

He smiled back and finally finished his food before he and Ruj took the dogs out for a walk. Ruj was asking more detailed questions about him and King now that their parents weren’t there, and Ram found himself feeling slightly out of his depth when Ruj asked him for dating advice. 

“You’re sixteen,” he reminded his brother.

“So?”

“Don’t you think you should concentrate on school for now?”

“You were only two years older than me when you started dating.”

“Two years is a long time,” Ram shook his head. 

“But I like her.”

“Fine, go and … have ice cream with her or something.”

“But how did you start dating P’King?” Ruj asked, looking serious. “Didn’t you go on dates?”

Ram sighed. “No.”

“Well, how did you become boyfriends then?”

Ram couldn’t possibly tell Ruj about the chaotic circumstances that preceded their first real kiss. 

“It … just happened. I don’t know.”

“That’s not helpful.”

“And you are not going to date anyone.”

Ruj made a face at him and Ram pulled him close, ruffling his hair. 

“Just be nice to her, hmm?”

“I’m always nice.”

“Right,” Ram mocked him gently. 

He felt slightly less alienated from his parents’ house than he had earlier when they returned. He saw his car in the driveway and remembered the astonishment he had felt when he had been given a key and then shown outside. 

In a way, he had forgotten how sexy the car was. Now that he looked at it, he was happy that his parents wanted him to have it. The thought he had had earlier, that he could drive King to campus in the mornings, keeping his hand on his knee for the entire duration of the ride, solidified into a plan. The tinted windows would mean that nobody would be able to see what they were doing, except for the oncoming traffic. He could run his hands through King’s hair whenever he felt like it and they could listen to music without headphones and they could have iced coffee on the way there. 

He sighed happily, causing Ruj to give him a funny look.

“What?” he asked and Ruj just shook his head grinning. 

“I’ll take the dogs inside.”

Ram nodded and then turned back at the car. Then he pulled out his phone and texted King.

_“Could you come and pick me up? Take the bus?”_

He had barely pressed send when his phone rang.

“Hey.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, everything is fine.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Wait, were you waiting for me to ask you to come?”

“Of course I was.”

“I told you … never mind.”

“Don’t go anywhere.”

“I’m not.”

“Just making sure.”

“P’King?”

“Hmm?”

“Are _you_ alright?”

Ram heard a huff and could almost see him brush his hair back. He found himself smiling at the thought. 

“I’m better now that I know you are okay.”

“I told you I would tell you if I wasn’t.”

“I know. Still.”

“P’King.”

“Ram.”

“Oh?”

King sighed. “Ning. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“Don’t stress.”

“I missed you.”

Ram felt the words dig deep into his heart and for a moment he stopped breathing, just feeling another tiny bit of self-doubt being dismantled by King’s affection. 

“I missed you, too.”

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m outside my parents' house. Why?”

“Just wondering.”

“I’m going to go back inside.”

“Oh.”

“What?”

“I’d rather we continued to talk.”

Ram cleared his throat. “Did you miss me _that_ much?”

“Yes! And I don’t get to talk to you on the phone a lot. It’s special.”

“But it’s rude to do it on the bus.”

“I’m almost on my own.”

“Wait, you already are on the bus?”

“I told you I was on my way.”

“P’King!”

“If you wait outside, I can kiss you.”

“You can kiss me inside, too.”

“But your parents and your brother.”

“I still have my room.”

“But they would know.”

“You don’t usually care.”

“Maybe I don’t, but I care now.”

“I noticed.”

“Okay, okay, go inside. I’m sorry for keeping you.”

“No, you’re not.”

“No, I’m not.”

Ram could hear the smile in King’s voice and it made him want to walk to the bus stop and wait for him there. 

“See you in a bit.”

“Ram?”

His name, again. King really must have missed him. 

“Hmm?”

“Nothing.”

“I’m going to hang up now.”

“Thank you for talking to me.”

Ram could hear that he truly meant it, too. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

He inhaled deeply, resisting the silly urge to press a kiss to the display of his phone, and then went back inside. If King had caught the bus immediately, he should be getting to the nearest stop in a quarter of an hour. He kept checking the clock on the wall, and even though his father had just handed him a glass of soda, Ram got up again when he thought he should be close. “P’King is going to pick me up. I should get him from the bus stop. I’ll be right back.”

His parents watched him go and he felt his ears burn, understanding King’s qualms about disappearing in his room when it was obvious what would happen as soon as they had closed the door behind them. 

He quickly put on his shoes and then jogged to the bus stop, checking his phone to see if King had texted him again. When he saw the bus approach, his heart started beating faster. He wasn’t entirely sure why that was, especially since he had gotten to kiss King throughout the day, which was unusual, all things considered, but he was really rather nervous. 

When he saw King make his way to the door, he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. King barely managed to take one step out of the bus before he stumbled and almost fell. Ram rushed forward immediately and kept him from falling as King clumsily wrapped his arms around his back, pressing his face against Ram’s neck for a second. It was then that Ram realised that he had never been in any real danger of falling. 

He straightened him up again and then shook his head, grinning. “You know, I’d make a joke about how you keep falling for me, but I guess the people on the bus really just think you need to learn how to walk down stairs properly.”

King laughed and slipped his hand in Ram’s, pulling him away. 

“P’King?”

“Hmm?” King turned around, his expression entirely innocent.

Ram looked at their hands and then back at King and regretted it immediately. King’s happy expression gave way to concern and Ram squeezed his hand in reaction. “Nothing.”

He walked faster and ended up pulling King along with him. When King giggled, he almost stopped again to kiss him right there and then on the pavement. As soon as they had entered the gate to his parents' house, Ram pulled him into the shade where neither the street lights nor the driveway lights could reach them.

“Hold still,” King told him, and then he took his face between his hands and began peppering it with kisses. Ram giggled but let him proceed, his hands on King’s waist, wanting but not daring to slip them under his t-shirt. 

When King pulled back, he just looked at him in question and King smiled widely. “One kiss for every sentence you said to me on the phone.”

“You counted them?”

“My brain just sort of did. I don’t know why. Is that weird?”

Ram laughed and kissed him properly. “Yes, it is.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“Why are you so talkative today?” King asked, pulling him into a hug. 

“I don’t know.”

“Wait,” King pushed himself away from Ram and then walked past him and Ram knew he had spotted the car in the driveway. “Did your dad get a new car?”

Ram watched with a wildly beating heart as King walked around it, his expression full of admiration. Well, if Ram had been hesitant about taking the car home before, he definitely wasn’t any longer. 

“It’s mine,” he said quietly as he came closer and King stared at him with wide eyes. 

“Did they just decided to give you a Mercedes?”

“No,” Ram shook his head and leaned against the car, trying to look cool, but probably failing. “It was my birthday present when I turned 18.”

“But you never … you rode your bike. And the bus! Ram!” King sounded almost indignant and Ram had to smile. 

“I didn’t see the point …”

“You didn’t what?” King stared at him as if he was suddenly not at all sure whether Ram hadn’t lost his mind. 

“Well, I didn’t really need it.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” King came to stand in front of him, effectively trapping him where he stood leaning against the car. “We’re going home in this car, right?”

Ram nodded, enjoying King’s excitement immensely. 

King blew out his breath. “I should probably say hi to your family.”

Ram nodded again, but then made the mistake to look at King’s lips. King smirked and leaned in closer. “I’ll kiss you in the car,” he whispered and then he was gone. Ram followed him into the house, hoping his family hadn’t wondered why he had been gone for so long. 

King was already chatting to his mum when he found them in the dining room. Ruj brought King a plate with food while his father was watching them from the kitchen counter. Ram knew he was still a little apprehensive where it came to King, because of their first meeting, and he was glad that he served as a reminder that things weren’t as they had been. 

“Do you want to say hi to the dogs after?” he asked, sitting down next to King and accepting a second plate from his brother as well. 

King nodded and began eating in a way that made it clear to Ram that he hadn’t had dinner. He sighed and pushed his plate closer to his, so he could steal his food more easily. Twice in a single day, he thought, smiling at King. Two meals during which King stole his food and smiled back at him, pulling expressions and making noises that he really, truly shouldn’t make when they weren’t alone.

But, thankfully, King also complimented his mother and Ruj on the food and joked that he hadn’t brought a present for Ruj today, because he hadn’t planned on coming in the first place. “That’s okay,” Ruj sighed. “Ram already told me off for expecting too much.”

King laughed and elbowed Ram. “I’m just buying myself some peace of mind,” he argued and then pulled his wallet out of his bag, sliding a coupon card for a gaming store across the table to Ruj. “Good thing I bought this a while ago, just in case.”

“King, you really don’t have to,” Ram’s mother shook her head. “He’s got enough games.”

“It’s okay. He can buy hardware with that, too,” King said earnestly and Ram had to sit on his hands as not to drag him away from the table and into his room. He couldn’t even say why, but the way King’s brain sometimes worked made him want to kiss him until King forgot what thoughts were. 

He waited patiently for King to finish his food before he got up and pulled him to the back of the house. As usual, King needed a moment to mentally prepare himself, and Ram slipped into the room first, making sure the dogs were all calm when King finally entered. 

But it only took him five minutes to get used to them and he eventually sat down cross-legged, with Ram sitting right next to him, their knees touching, and the dogs in a circle around them. 

“Thank you for getting Ruj that card.”

“Of course.”

“You don’t have to, you know? He expects it now, but he would understand if you stopped.”

King grinned and leaned against him. “It’s fine. He’s better behaved than my nephews, so he deserves it more.”

“He’s also much older.”

“Well, yeah.”

“P’King?”

“Hmm?”

“I’ll need to get a parking permit in the underground car park.”

“No worries. I have a reserved space.”

“Oh?”

“I have a car, too, you know?”

“Umm, you do?”

“Ah, don’t you remember our first date?” King moved around to be able to look at him, taking his right hand into his, stroking his palm with his thumb. “You walked me to the parking lot afterwards.”

“I didn’t really pay attention to where we were going,” Ram admitted, feeling his ears burn a little. 

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Well, I was still thinking about the orange juice you had wanted and … well, maybe I was also a little distracted by you.”

“So, it _was_ our first date!” King grinned and pulled his hand up to kiss his knuckles. “Anyway, I had an accident a while back, and my sister picked the car up from the garage and I never got around to getting it back.”

“Oh, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I was … fine. Sort of. Confused. But not hurt. Just the car.”

Ram frowned even as he could see a blush creep into King’s cheeks. 

“Never mind.”

“Is it a nice car?” he asked, more to distract himself from King clearly not wanting to tell him why he had been distracted enough to get into an accident, but having his suspicions, and he wasn’t entirely sure whether he should apologise. 

“Hah!” King laughed and shook his head. “Nowhere near that beauty out there.”

“So, I don’t have to think about getting a permit? Thank you.”

“I can’t believe your parents gave you a car like that!” he said quietly. 

“I know. It’s a little embarrassing.”

“No, it’s hot as hell, that’s what it is.”

“If you say so.”

“Ning, you can’t seriously tell me that the car doesn’t turn you on even a little bit.”

“Well, it’s a nice car.”

King inhaled deeply and then sighed as if he couldn’t quite believe he had ended up with someone like Ram, who simply didn’t appreciate the things that should be appreciated. “Very, very nice,” he finally said and then let go of Ram. “Come on, let’s go home.”

They washed and then said their good byes, ending up with two bags of food between them that they were not allowed to refuse. Ram’s father followed them outside and pressed the key and registration papers into Ram’s hands. Ram was just about to turn away when he stopped him and then drew him close and into a hug. For a few seconds, Ram stood frozen, unable to pull away or hug him back. 

“Drive safely,” his father said quietly, squeezing him for a moment before he pulled away again. And something in Ram snapped. He leaned into his father’s embrace and wrapped his arms around his back, just for a moment, before he pulled away and turned around, not looking his father in the eye. 

He unlocked the car, put the food down on the backseat and got into the driver’s seat. He exhaled shakily, staring at the steering wheel, hoping that King would hurry up and get into the car. When he did, King immediately reached out to squeeze his hands. He did not say anything, for which Ram was grateful. Instead, he waited until his hands had stopped shaking and Ram could draw a breath without the risk of it turning into a sob before he sat back and put on the seat belt. 

“Let’s go home, hmm?”

Ram nodded and started the car. He took a few moments to remember how everything worked before he carefully pulled out of the driveway and onto the road. He had ignored his father as they had driven past him.

“Can you drive?” King asked, but Ram felt surprisingly calm now. His body remembered the car, and, even if it didn’t smell the way it had back when he had driven it more regularly, he felt a sense of familiarity settle in him and he found himself smiling at King. 

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

“Okay,” King leaned back and then wriggled around in the seat a little. “This is very nice.”

Ram didn’t answer, because he had a suspicion that this wouldn’t be the last thing King had to say about the car. 

When King began pushing buttons, running his fingers along the fixtures and opening and closing the glove compartment, Ram had to make sure to concentrate on the traffic. When King stopped moving and rested his elbow against the door, holding his head up with his hand, watching Ram drive, he knew it wouldn’t be long until King would say something silly or sexy or both. 

He swallowed and tried to ignore the tingling sensation that crawled down his spine and settled in his belly. He didn’t dare look at King then, knowing he would be too affected by the view. 

“Take me somewhere,” King finally said, his voice a little rough around the edges and Ram wondered about all the things he wasn’t saying just then. 

“Where?”

“Somewhere … where we can be alone.”

“But not home?”

“No,” King chuckled. “Not home. Not yet.”

Ram inhaled deeply, risking a glance at him. “Do you want to drive?”

“Would you let me?”

“Of course.”

“Yes! Please!” King almost leaped at him to kiss his cheek and probably would have tried to actually kiss him had his seatbelt not hindered him. Ram gave him a stern look before he concentrated on the road again. King just smirked and leaned back in his seat. 

Ram pulled into a side road and stopped the car, looking at King for a moment. Any anxiety King might still have carried around with him was gone. Instead, he was almost vibrating with excitement. 

“You never told me you liked cars.”

“I don’t.”

Ram cocked his head, not deigning his obviously false claim with an answer. 

“I really don’t,” King reaffirmed. But _this_ car? And you? God, Ram … you …” he swallowed hard. 

“I?”

“It’s … _your_ car.”

Not knowing what to say, Ram simply kept looking at him, though he couldn’t quite keep himself from smiling. 

“It’s just very, very sexy,” King finally admitted and Ram could only shake his head. “I mean it!” King continued. “If I saw the car on the street, I might look at it and think, you know, nice car. But if I saw you driving it?” His sigh was almost a moan and Ram realised that King was entirely serious. “It seems so … in control. Safe, you know? Calm. But also a little bit dangerous, because you know it is probably more powerful than you would think at first glance, and it’s beautiful, too.” He pushed his hair out of his face. 

Ram knew he was walking a thin line right then, but he couldn’t help himself. “Are you seriously comparing me to a car right now?” 

“Not just any car,” King affirmed, clearly deciding to not let Ram irritate him. “This car.” He ran his hand along the side of Ram’s seat and then undid his seat belt before moving his hand up so he could run it along Ram’s thigh to his knee before he touched the steering wheel, gently at first, but then tightening his grip and smiling. “Yeah, definitely sexy.”

Ram stared at King’s whitening knuckles, suddenly glad that King had offered to drive, but simultaneously entirely certain that whatever was turning King on would undoubtedly catch on like a wildfire as soon as he sat in the driver’s seat. 

He unlocked the door and got out, taking a couple of deep breaths before he walked around the car. He opened the door on King’s side and held out his hand, and King took it and climbed out of the car, coming to stand much, much too close to Ram. 

He could hear his own breath hitch and he couldn’t do anything about it. King’s eyes flicked to his lips before they moved back up to his eyes again and he smirked at him as if he knew exactly what he was doing to Ram. Well, Ram thought, he very likely did.

When King stepped out of his reach, he could feel his body yearning to follow him even if his brain told him to get back into the car and the relative safety of its tinted windows. When he had considered that he might be able to touch King, he had not considered the extent of it. 

He sat down, closed the door and put on his seatbelt, all before King had gotten in. And he should have known that King would close the door and then immediately lean over and kiss him. 

“Go,” Ram said, trying not to sound impatient when King pulled back. King smirked again, clearly enjoying how flustered Ram had grown, and started the car. 

The satisfied noise that escaped King’s throat as soon as he pulled out onto the road caused Ram to look out of the window, trying his best to ignore King. Yet, after a couple of minutes, King began to grow adventurous, speeding up just a little too quickly, hitting the breaks a little too strongly, and, when Ram finally dared to look at him, King beamed back. 

“I need to go on the motorway,” he announced and promptly pulled into the lane that led there. Well, at least King wouldn’t try to kiss him while speeding, Ram thought, knowing he was getting dangerously close of coming up with ways of trying to distract him. But with the increasing speed of the car, they both seemed to calm down again. Traffic was surprisingly light and King pulled onto the right lane and stayed there, getting a feel for the car and growing comfortable in the driver’s seat. 

And Ram finally allowed himself to properly look. 

King caught him, immediately, but he just smiled and held out his left hand to him and Ram took it, intertwining their fingers. “Are we eloping?” he asked, grinning at King.

“Well, we have enough food to last us for a couple of days, we have one tank full of gas, and … you’re here with me. I think we can elope … at least for long enough until we have to go home, get a change of clothes and go to class tomorrow morning.”

Ram chuckled and squeezed his hand. Neither of them mentioned the secret wedding aspect of the term, and Ram allowed himself to imagine just for a moment what it would feel like to get married on a whim. He knew neither of them would ever even consider something like that, but somehow it did add a sense of adventure to their experience. 

“Where are you taking me, then?” Ram asked, daring to sit a little closer to King and turning his head so he could just look at his profile, wondering absent-mindedly whether he had always been this beautiful. 

“North. I know this grove, it’s lovely and calm there. I want to take you during the day as well, but since we’re running away, I thought it would be a nice place to run towards.”

“You’re amazing,” Ram said quietly, and King turned to look at him in surprise, his expression melting into a soft smile.

They drove in silence, the traffic growing even lighter as they left the city behind. King looked relaxed and entirely contented driving the car, steering with one hand and still holding Ram’s with the other. He did take his hand back once he got ready to leave the motorway, but instead of just letting go, he pushed Ram’s hand down onto his thigh and then patted it to let him know he should keep it there. 

King took them down a road that seemed to lead towards one of the outer suburbs of the city but then pulled into a much smaller road. When he parked the car, Ram recognised the place from a poster he had seen at the bus stops. The park wasn’t large, but it had all kinds of rare trees and the gardeners had pruned some of them to grow into fantastic shapes, winding around each other, looking both familiar and entirely strange. 

Light installations drew attention to the strangely shaped trees and even though there were a few people about, it seemed very quiet. “Come on,” King smiled and climbed out of the car. For a moment, Ram was almost disappointed that King wasn’t going to change his mind and kiss him in the car instead, but he could see how excited King was to show him the place. So, he got out of the car, too, and waited for King to lock it before he slipped his hand into his and followed him down the small gravel path that led to the grove. 

Once there, King started telling him about his favourite trees, and how he had seen some of them grow over the years, while others were much older and had always looked the same to him. And with every tree, Ram felt it harder not to stop him and fall to his knees and beg him to never, ever change. The further into the grove they walked, the fewer people they met, and, once Ram couldn’t quite stand feeling so much anymore, he pulled sharply on his hand. “P’King?”

King looked at him, his face open and happy, but he seemed to find something in Ram’s expression that made him stop short, and his eyes widened.

“Can we go home?” Ram wasn’t entirely sure why he sounded out of breath when they weren’t even moving anymore.

“Ram?” King asked, cocking his head as if he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of his request. 

“Please?”

When King finally nodded, Ram tightened his grip on his hand and pulled him back towards the car, past all the trees King had introduced to him. King produced the key from his bag and unlocked the car, but then he hesitated to give it to Ram. “Are you okay to drive?” he asked, but Ram simply took the key from him and got into the car, starting the engine as soon as King had sat down and closed the door. 

He knew King had been right to ask, but he had remembered how they had passed a small road that ran parallel to the park and which had looked fairly abandoned. There had been no street lights and no indication of any recent use. His heart was beating wildly as he pulled into it and King gasped next to him. 

“You don’t actually want to go home,” he breathed and Ram shook his head, his eyes fixed on the dark road ahead. 

“Okay.”

Ram forced himself to calm down and concentrate on the road, but he could feel King’s eyes on him almost like a touch. When the road widened a little, he pulled over and parked the car. For a few moments, neither of them moved, but when Ram tried to undo his seatbelt, failing several times and growling in frustration, King did it for him, only to pull him into a kiss immediately. 

And nothing could stop Ram from holding back now. Not caring about how his legs were stuck under the steering wheel, he wrapped his arms around King’s shoulders and began to kiss him back, elated when King moaned in surprise at the intensity of it. He clasped a handful of his hair and pulled, exposing his neck to him. When he started to kiss along his pulse point, King giggled and finally stopped him. 

“Under the collar!” he warned and Ram realised he had been very close to painting his neck with a love bite which he wouldn’t have had any chance of hiding from the world. He remembered how he had just barely managed to keep King from doing the same to him during their make out session on the roof of the faculty building earlier in the day. 

“Sorry,” he took hold of his t-shirt and pulled down the collar, stretching it all the way to his shoulder. For a moment, he pressed his face against the crook of his neck, breathing in deeply, finding comfort in the warmth of his skin and the edge of his collarbone against his chin. Then he attached his lips to his shoulder and sucked. 

King giggled again and Ram knew he was being silly, but he needed to occupy his mouth and he was too pent up to kiss him, never mind attempt a blowjob. When King’s hand slipped into his hair and pressed him closer, he groaned and sucked harder, drawing a hiss from King. 

“Let me take it off,” King suggested, his voice rough. Ram looked up in surprise and found King staring back at him, his cheeks flushed and his eyes wide, looking like he was about to fall apart under his hands, even though Ram had barely touched him. 

“Fuck,” he simply said in response and King’s lips quirked, even though he didn’t lose any of the intensity with which he was looking at Ram. Then he remembered King’s suggestion and he pulled back, trying to tuck his legs up and failing, while King pulled off his t-shirt with one swift move and threw it behind him. With a frustrated grunt, he let himself fall sideways, trying to reach as much skin as he could with his lips, loving the soft noises he drew from him. He held himself up by King’s thigh, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to do this for long without his strength finally giving out. When King’s hand slipped under his collar, his thumb tracing the tattoo on his upper back, something he always did consciously when he touched Ram like this, Ram knew he needed more space for this. 

But if he moved now, he would have to stop kissing King and King would have to pull his hand out of his shirt, and somehow that seemed too large of a hurdle to take. So, he continued, trying to get even closer to King, his hand slipping between King’s thighs, giving him a tiny bit more leverage as he held himself up by the seat. 

When he began sucking on King’s left nipple, he slid forward with a curse, stopped only by Ram’s arm between his legs, grunting in surprise. The momentum took any remaining strength out of his arm and Ram fell forward, his face landing right in King’s crotch, which, in turn, caused King’s fingernails to dig into his shoulder. But he immediately let go of him again and tried to help him up. 

“Ning, are you okay?” he asked, but Ram just lay there, laughing silently against King’s lap, wondering how close he had just gotten to have his face punched by King’s hard-on had it not been trapped inside his trousers. 

Finally, he found the strength to push himself up. “Can I come to your side? The steering wheel is in the way.”

King kissed him quickly before he nodded. “You know that you can move the seat, right?”

Ram rolled his eyes. “So, move yours!”

“Oh, right, yes!” King activated the car’s electronic controls and moved his chair back as far as he could while Ram used the additional space to pull his legs out from under him and climbed across and into King’s lap. 

“Much better,” he admitted and King laughed and wrapped his arms around him. Then he took his face between his hands and checked for injuries. “Oh,” he said quietly, gently touching his cheekbone. “My zipper.”

“Hmm?”

“Just a scratch, but still. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t get to be sorry for that,” Ram growled and began kissing him again, his left hand fumbling for the lever to lower the back of the seat. When he found it, he pulled up sharply and King squealed when it moved suddenly. This time, Ram had been prepared for the sudden movement, but he had not been prepared for King’s iron grip on his shirt. He ended up falling forward anyway, just barely managing to keep his head from hitting King’s chin. 

For a moment, they stared silently at each other, and then they started to laugh. King pulled Ram up and Ram had never been more grateful for how slim King’s hips were, because he could comfortably kneel with both of his knees still on the car seat. For a moment, he imagined them making love like this, slowly, languidly, and without the burning impatience he still felt. Then he remembered how little room there was, despite it all, and how, if either of them grew uncomfortable, there wouldn’t really be any way to change positions, and he decided that it wasn’t the best idea he had ever had. 

When King put both hands on his arse and pulled him flush against him, Ram stopped thinking and pressed forward, kissing him hard. He started moving his hips, not entirely sure whether it was actually feeling good or whether he was just too desperate and impatient to stop. 

When King’s hands slipped into his trousers and proceeded to encourage his movements, he gave himself over to it, rocking into him, breathing heavily against his neck. 

“Fuck, Ning,” King squeezed harder and bucked up, and Ram was almost sure that he was close, but then King pulled his hands out of his jeans and clasped at the back of his shirt, pulling him back a little. “Stop, stop, stop, stop, please!”

Ram needed all of his strength to stop, and he was surprised at himself when he managed. 

“I’m sorry,” he apologised, not entirely sure what he was apologising for.

King shook his head and laughed. “No, I just need to touch you!”

“Oh?”

“Please,” he pushed at him and clumsily tried to open his jeans. Inspired by King’s words, Ram tried to do the same with King’s trousers, making it impossible to see what they were doing and getting into each other’s way. With a frustrated whine, Ram simply wrapped his hand around King’s erection as far as his trousers allowed and King fell back, giving up on Ram’s jeans. 

But it only took him a moment to recover before he sat up again and pushed Ram’s hands away. “Let me go first,” he said sternly, finally managing to open his jeans, but realising that he could just barely pull him out of them and his underwear because of the way he was sitting with his legs spread. Nevertheless, he immediately began stroking him, his expression feverish as their eyes locked. 

Ram wanted to scream with frustration. Finally feeling King’s hand on him was a huge relief, but the lack of room, the fact that he wasn’t at all comfortable like this with the zipper digging painfully into his oversensitive skin and the fact that they didn’t have any lube were already driving him mad. And, on top of it all, the fact that he couldn’t lean forward to kiss King without making it all worse made him want to cry. 

“Stop,” he finally gasped, putting his own hand on King’s and holding it down. “This isn’t working.”

“What do we do?” King asked, and Ram could see in his eyes that he didn’t feel all that differently from him, which was a relief. Ram pushed himself up by placing both hands on King’s shoulders. Then he inhaled deeply. 

“First of all, you have to take your trousers off,” Ram decided and King chuckled. “And I need to,” he scrunched up his face and tried to push his own jeans down, but, once again, didn’t succeed. 

“Come up here,” King pulled on his thighs until Ram knelt up again. “Now put your left leg between mine.”

Ram pushed himself up, hitting his head on the roof of the car and almost dropping back down, but King put his hand on the top of his head to keep him from hurting himself again and helped him with the other hand. “There you go. Now you can push them down.”

To Ram’s infinite relief, King was right. But then King, being presented with Ram’s erection just a few inches away from his face, tried to reach him and there simply wasn’t enough room. He could barely wrap his lips around his head before he pulled back, looking up at Ram with tears in his eyes. “I don’t understand,” he simply said, and Ram had to laugh, sitting down on his thigh to be able to kiss him. He opened King’s trousers and pulled them down as far as he could with his leg in the way. 

“Spit,” he asked and held out his hand and King looked at him with so much amused affection in his eyes that Ram had to kiss him again. Then he held out his hand again. 

King spat and Ram immediately wrapped his hand around him, loving how King just dropped back against the back of the seat and screwed his eyes closed. “Fuck, Ning! Don’t stop!”

“I won’t.”

He leaned forward to be able to kiss his chest again, using the headrest to hold himself up with his free hand, and when he went back to the nipple he had abandoned earlier after King’s strong physical reaction, King’s hands flew up to his face, hitting his right elbow on the window of the car with a loud crack. 

Ram froze when King cursed, but even as he checked whether he had seriously hurt himself, King growled at Ram. “I told you not to stop!”

Ram stared at him. There were tears in King’s eyelashes, but Ram couldn’t tell whether they stemmed from pain or frustration. 

“Please, Ning. I just hit my funny bone. I’m okay. Please, please make me come!”

Ram shook his head but spat into his palm and went back to work. Not wanting to risk a third time that King lost control, he stayed away from his chest, but plucked King’s right hand from where it clasped the head rest right then and put it on his own cock. 

“Help me!” he grunted and King tightened his grip. 

“Fuck!” King gasped, arching up into his hand and almost lifting Ram up with him. So he sped up, knowing that the longer he dragged this out, the higher the chances were that either of them would get hurt again. 

King tried to reciprocate, but every few strokes, he stopped, his fingers tensing around him, but he always kept himself from squeezing too hard. Ram leaned back a little, looking down on King, his lips parted, every breath audible and accentuated by the sound of his hand on his cock. And then he arched up again, his one hand flying to the window, pressing hard against it while his other hand clasped at the driver’s seat. Ram could almost feel his fingernails dig into the soft leather of the seat and he wondered whether their little stunt would leave visible traces on the car, instantly lowering its monetary worth but making it so much more valuable to him. 

King spilled over his stomach, his breath heaving, his eyes hooded but still fixed on Ram’s. When Ram pushed his thumb upwards and squeezed, King jerked, laughing incredulously at him. When come threatened to run down his waist, Ram quickly caught it with his hand. 

“I don’t think we have any tissues,” he realised, staring at King. 

“Take my shirt.”

“You need to wear your shirt.”

“Ning. Take my shirt! I don’t want to get it on the seat and there is no way I can get out of the car without that happening. I promise, it’ll be okay.”

Ram sighed and then fished King’s shirt from the back seat, dropping it on King’s stomach with another sigh. 

“Hey, don’t be like that!”

“Like what?”

“Like that. Annoyed.”

“But I am annoyed.”

“No, you just haven’t come yet. You’ll feel better in a minute.”

“I’m not going to come on your t-shirt.”

King chuckled. “It’s ruined anyway. Hey!” Ram had begun to grow soft again, despite the fact that King’s fingers were still wrapped around him. “Stay where you are!” he said to his cock and Ram couldn’t help but chuckle. 

King sighed, clearly disappointed. “Can I suggest something?”

“Hmm,” Ram wiped King’s stomach clean, folding the t-shirt so he cut put it down safely on the backseat. As he leaned over, King pushed at his shirt and squeezed his chest. Despite it all, Ram gasped and leaned down further, hoping that King would continue. 

“Ah, there you are,” King grinned. 

“You were saying?”

“Yes, I … can we go outside for just a second?”

Ram nodded and opened the door, surprised by the smell of humid earth and trees that immediately replaced the smell of sex and sweat and leather in the car. Ram inhaled deeply. 

“Come on,” King gently nudged him and Ram pushed himself up and tried to climb out, but was hindered by the jeans around his thighs. King giggled helplessly and just laughed harder when Ram shot him a dark look. 

“Ai’Ning, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this,” he said and Ram wondered what “this” was. King helped to pull up his jeans again, making sure the zipper didn’t hurt him by gently working his underwear over him and then pulling the jeans up far enough so that he was held safely, but leaving his flies undone. “Just for a second,” King promised and Ram finally had enough freedom to move and climb backwards out of the car. He almost fell once he came to stand on his feet as his legs had apparently not been prepared to hold him up again. But King was fast and clasped his hands, holding him up. 

“Aww, baby,” King chuckled and drew him into a tight hug. 

_Baby_? That was new. Ram wondered for a moment whether King was mocking him, but he held him so tightly, pressing his face against his neck, that he couldn’t quite imagine that. 

“Okay,” King finally let go of him. “That was more than a second, but …”

“It was nice,” Ram admitted, realising that King’s endearment had probably been inspired by his grumpiness and he did not want King to think it was his fault. 

“You know what would also be nice?” King asked as he pulled up his trousers, and Ram noticed for the first time that he had stood there, in the middle of the road, hugging him with his arse out for the world to see. Well, it was very dark after all, but the notion alone made Ram blush. He stared at him in disbelief. King did not seem to mind at all and simply pulled him to the front of the car and then pushed him back against it. “Hold still,” he said with a wide smile and then dropped to his knees right in front of him. 

A moment later, Ram’s jeans and underwear were pulled down to his ankles and with a satisfied noise, King pulled him into his mouth. 

“Oh, fuck, P’King!” Ram chocked out. Everything he had been yearning for during the last twenty minutes was suddenly manifesting in the heat of King’s mouth and the pressure of his tongue against him. He used one hand to hold himself up by the hood of the car, but he threated the fingers of his other hand into King’s hair, feeling waves of pleasure rush through him that replaced the frustration and discomfort he had previously felt. 

A moment before he came, King pulled back, looking up at him. “Lean back,” he said, his voice a little hoarse from the enthusiasm with which he had been pleasuring Ram. 

Ram tried to catch his breath and then let himself sink back, the warm metal of the car against his back and the dark crowns of the trees above him with a few stars twinkling in the dark patch of night sky where the city’s light pollution didn’t reach. And then King’s lips wrapped around him once more and he let his hands fall to his sides, surrendering completely. 

When he came, his legs shook so hard King had to pin him against the car with an arm across his lower stomach so he wouldn’t slide down. He heard King spit, but didn’t have the strength to look at him yet. He kept staring at the sky, allowing himself to just be for a moment.

When King finally let go of him and got up, Ram held out his hands to him. He pulled him up and into a tight hug, and Ram had to laugh, because this time it was him with his arse out for the world to see. 

“Let’s go home?” King kissed against his neck. 

Ram nodded. 

“I’ll drive, hmm?” King suggested and then helped him get dressed again. 

“You have no t-shirt,” Ram noted, unhelpfully. 

“Only the oncoming traffic might care,” he chuckled. “We’ll just stop and buy one somewhere on the way.”

Ram had to laugh as he readjusted the passenger seat to its normal position and King beamed at him. “I was worried for a second that you were upset,” he admitted as he started the car. 

“Just angry about how nothing worked out the way I wanted it to.”

“It’s still sexy.”

“What is.”

“The car, and you.”

Ram shook his head. “Yeah, we’re not having car sex again.”

“We might get better at it?”

“No. There is absolutely no way I will …”

“Ning!” King interrupted him. “We just need to plan better.”

“I don’t think it’ll help.”

“Okay, but the hood is fair game? You enjoyed that. I enjoyed that.”

“Fine, yeah.”

King swallowed and nodded and Ram wondered whether he was already making plans. “We also haven’t tried the backseat yet.”

Ram shook his head. “You’re impossible.”

“I’m just saying.”

“I think I prefer the bed,” Ram admitted. 

“And the shower?” King suggested, pulling out onto the main road and resting his hand on Ram’s thigh, squeezing lightly. “And the couch. You do like the couch.”

“Fine, yes, I do.”

King nodded. “And the kitchen table,” he added as he pulled onto the Motorway, speeding up again. 

“Shut up!” Ram rubbed his face, not quite sure why he felt a little embarrassed. 

“And the balcony,” King noted, sounding quite serious. “The challenge of staying quiet. You like that. And I like that.”

“You like all the other places, too.”

“That’s very true,” King grinned. 

“The bed is still the best place to have sex,” Ram argued after a lengthy silence. 

“That’s why I’m taking you home right now.”

“No, you are taking me home so we’ll be home.”

“And in bed.”

“To sleep.”

King huffed. “Ning, I’m going to have to come at least one more time tonight before I can sleep.”

Ram sighed. King was probably right. They hadn’t quite shaken off their giddy excitement of being in the car together, and King was still driving the car, half naked. Knowing he would probably never have the opportunity again, he pulled out his phone and took a couple of photos. He had expected King to complain, but instead, King started to pose a little and he had to stop eventually, afraid he was getting too distracted to drive. 

When they reached the city, King pulled into a parking space close to one of the late-night markets and Ram brushed his hair back. “I’ll be quick,” he promised and then jogged to find a t-shirt for King. He had planned on buying the first one he came across, but once he started browsing through a collection at a stall, he decided to get King a t-shirt he would be able to wear on a regular basis. 

When he found a black t-shirt with the print of a tree on it, he knew he had found what he was looking for. He paid and then quickly jogged back to the car. 

King was reading something on his phone, smiling at him when Ram got back into the car. “Here,” he handed the t-shirt to King, who put it on without looking at it. Only when he smoothed it down his front, he looked at the print, and his eyes lit up. 

“Thank you,” he leaned over and pulled him into a kiss. “I made a list,” he announced after they had put on their seatbelts again.

“A list?”

King handed him his phone. “Of things we need to keep in the car, just in case.”

Ram scrolled through the list and had to laugh. Some items were sensible, others seemed a little extreme. 

“You know lube shouldn’t get too hot, so we should probably not store any in the car.”

“Does that mean we have to always carry some with us?”

“How often do you plan on fucking me in a forest?” Ram laughed and King shot him a dirty look. 

“Just in case. I don’t want you to be frustrated like this again.”

“I’m fine now.”

“But you weren’t. I don’t want you to have to go through something like that again.”

“It wasn’t just the lube.”

“I know,” King nodded. “But still. It’s a process of elimination.”

“Thank you.”

“Also, your morning class was cancelled,” King smiled widely. “So, if you are not too exhausted, you know …”

** * **

That night, after they had showered and then made love, slowly and unrushed, and after they had counted their bruises, Ram lay awake in King’s arms, remembering the feeling of the hood of the car against his back, King’s mouth on him and the trees and sky above him. While he was still convinced that having sex in the car wouldn’t ever be something he’d actually enjoy, he knew he would have to reciprocate at some point, because he was almost certain that his position had been one that King would absolutely love. 

And maybe, if they stuck to blowjobs, things wouldn’t be quite as complicated as he had made them by insisting on actually sitting on King. Well, they might have to try a few more things after all, before he had sufficient evidence that he didn’t like car sex, he thought. 

“Ning?” King asked, his voice thick with sleep. 

“Hmm?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do the math.”

“What?”

King chuckled and pressed a kiss against his temple. “I’ll make sure we can figure out how to have good sex in the car.”

“P’King!”

“Well, call it applied physics.”

Ram pulled back a little, grinning at King’s tired face. “Are you telling me that you are going to use this term in casual conversation to distract me?”

King nodded. “Yes,” he said with a smile and then fell asleep. 

Well, Ram thought, at least King was entirely convinced that bringing the car home had been a great idea. Now they just needed to stop thinking about sex whenever they took the car anywhere. He turned around and pressed his back against King’s body, pulling his arm closer against his chest. The first thing he would do in the morning would be to check whether he could find the same scratch marks on the back of the driver’s seat that King had apologised for leaving on his shoulder blade. Maybe the silly equation King had proposed when he had compared him to the car wasn’t so far-fetched after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Ram's car is a black 2019 Mercedes-AMG C43 with dark grey leather seats and silver fittings.


End file.
